Fallout: Deep in the heart of radiation
by Songb1rd
Summary: Did you know that Vault-Tec can and will protect you and your family from post nuclear devistation? That's right! And if you sign up now, vault 58 could be your savior. We garantee 100% customer satisfaction or your money back, and don't worry, things will be just as they where on the surface. The time to make the right choice is now, and prepare for the future ! ..Singnal lost...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey everybody, this is my VERY first fan fiction and Fallout happens to be one of my all time favorite games so...it's going to be about Fallout! Here's a little personal disclaimer: I am not the best at punctuation and maybe small spelling errors here and there so no need to point me out on that. (Point me out on improvement in the story though)**

Prologue

War...war never changes.

Mass hysteria and panic engulfed the world on the fall of 2077. A fight for fuel and resources triggered what was known as the Great war...and the final war.

What used to be America became a barren wasteland; inhabited by what the radiation left behind.

Cities and monuments still stood, and would soon become settlements for the remainder of humanity. But before the worlds end, the wide use of vaults were used to protect and preserve pre-war America, courtesy of vault-Tec. These underground vaults provided food and shelter, everything a person needs to survive, generation after generation.

But a darker side dwelled within these vaults. What they thought protected them turned out to be a grim social experiment, meant for government study.

Nobody was safe. Inside or out.

Because war...war never changes...

...

Chapter 1: Vault life

My name is Blake, and someday, i will take the Generalized Occupational Aptitude Test.

Ever since i was five, mother and father have been preparing me for this day, well...that was before they got transferred to the sub-terminal level of the vault. They deal with our vault's heaters, generators, and the most important, the water chip.

You see, our vault is very complex. Different areas such as the diner have stored power that it collects from various sources, like the sub-terminal level my parents work at now; the generators transfer power to sections of the vault, and those sections donate a little of it's power to the next section and so on. It helps prevent a complete power outage; say if the playground ran out of power, all we would have to do is move to the diner, or the foyer which still has power stored! (don't worry, this will have it's importance sooner or later).

But anyway, back to the General Occupational Aptitude Test, or G.O.A.T. for short. This test determines your life's destiny in the vault, and it's taken when your sixteen. Mother and father had always nagged me about it, they want me to be just like them, a spaz!

I never had the courage to actually tell them though (they'd probably give me a good shocking if i did). But don't judge me by my knowledge on how the vault works, we were all taught this at a very young age i mean, I'm only ten! We were all raised to be spazes like the grown ups and it's ticking me off! Though, there are few of us that stick to the old ways... Before the overseer implemented us to know everything; he thinks we must "know" how to speak every language, he wants us to "know" the pothagriam theorem, he wants us to "know" every last scripture of the Bible, he wants us to know everything...

This is where it began...

The fluorescent lighting of class "A" blinded me, as it did every day. It was the same routine,

Sit down

Recite the pledge

Lecture

Work

Lunch

Repeat the pledge

Do more work

Recess

Come back

Repeat the pledge

Go home.

We all had our vault jumpsuits fitted tight or endure a shocking from Mrs. Clank. My blonde hair was cut short, to the tip of my forehead as it should be. I sat next to my closest friends: Jeremiah and Carl.

Jeremiah was a taller, olive-skinned boy, while Carl was a shorter ginger. We go way back.

We...even, had a little gang thing going on. We called ourselves the "Good Fighters", why? Because one morning after a sleep over, our Pip-Boys picked up a radio signal other than the vault PA system, and the radio announcer was talking wildly about, "fighting the good fight." Talking about how equality and freedom was the way to go; he spoke how being told how to live was not in human nature. Jeremiah, Carl, and I couldn't help but agree. Not to long from then, we deemed ourselves the "Good Fighters" and came in my room every night to listen to the station (my room was the only room that got the signal for some reason).

"Hello class"

"Good morning Mrs. Clank" the class responded all at once.

They sat down.

"Before I begin, the announcements will start in 0.50 seconds."

the class patiently awaited for the intercom to ring...

A small bell alerted us that the announcements where starting.

The friendly protectron we heard every morning began it's pre-recorded speech, it's voie raspy like every protectron, "Good morning, vault fifty, eight. Please, stand, for the pledge...of allegiance...I pledge..."

And there's the start of our day, do your pledge and studies, the repeat. No freedon, no free time.

There was always something to do...

**A/N: Yeah i know it's short, but it will continue and with some help i can add more detail and length to the story. (remember this is my first story so think of it as a prototype...) Any suggestions or improvement? PM me if you want.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Okay, chapter 2 is here and I made it much more lengthy, and added tweaks to the details.**

…

Chapter 2: "You'll have lots of swell kids to play with!"

"Well howdy how how wastelanders! And may I say it's a mighty fine mornin' out here in the Texas hellhole? Well damn right I may, hasn't been a law out here in the last two hundred years! Hahahahah!"

…static…

"To those of you familiar with me, welcome back, you've lived another day. To those of you new to the Texas wastes, I'm Big Tex, and I'll be your host this morning'."

Say hello to my alarm clock.

"Oh, and ummm, if you're a lady and you happen to be new around here, and uhhhh had previous issues with men…let me be the first one to tell you to watch out. Cause everything's bigger in Texas Ahahahahah!"

If you don't recall before, my room had a strange connection to the outside world.

I set my pip-boy to auto-play the galaxy news station at 5:00 in the morning, most likely against vault rules, but I don't care.

I yawned as I got up and took a long gaze at my metallic room, still a bit dark until lights-on time at 6:30. I had one captain cosmos poster on the left, and a radiation king brand radio poster on the right, to preserve the pre-war theme. It was a nice gesture of the adults to do, accounting the vaults' bland and cold texture.

"Well enough of my babbling folks, imma get to the music before that city boy Jackson, kicks me out of my mornin' shift."

Pre-war country music began to play.

That was Big Tex, some gravelly-voiced irradiated….ghoul or something? I've heard that word get thrown around on the radio.

Each morning from about 5:00-10:00 a.m. He would kick off Galaxy News with his dark comedy, reports, and country music until the main host Jackson, would take his place for the rest of the day and play Jazz music. Honestly, I preferred Jackson over Tex. Tex was full of pep sure, but he never spoke the truth like Jackson did…

Waking up early gave me the advantage to get dressed in my vault jumpsuit before the security came thank God. I slipped on the blue suit and shut off the pip-boy. I could faintly hear the laughter of some teens echo down the metal corridor, "Why do they get to have so much fun?" I asked myself. But before I could venture that thought, there was a small knock on the door, I knew who it was…

"Come in!" I yelled. I hit the activation switch on my door.

And in came my parents…..

"Hello son." my father said in a somewhat stern voice. I did the best I could to seem unsuspicious, "Hi dad, why the early visit, shouldn't you be at work?"

"Ah, yes well, the last time we saw you, I seem to have forgotten my fedora. Oh and my tie."

And that's my dad. An uptight working class man. A conservative republican and a stern one at that. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but…he tends to take it to the extremes a little bit. Mom on the other hand used to be a housewife until the sub-terminal level needed an extra set of hands.

"Aw yeah…" I started. I hopped off the edge of my bed and searched my closet. "Here it is!" I exclaimed, presenting my father's missing accessories. He slipped them on.

"Excellent, I've wondered where these were. So son, how's school going?"

"Fine." I replied returning to the bedside.

"You sure…?" he asked.

"Yup. I get up, get dressed, eat, brush, pack, and go."

He raised an eye at me. "You don't sound too enthusiastic about it."

_No Shit_, "Oh ummm, sorry father, it's just this darned tiredness of mine." I yawned, it _is _five in the morning but, why do you ask?"

He turned around and made an odd gesture to my mom and at an instant, she pulled the activation switch on my door, making it shut with a loud slam.

He turned back to me and my mother joined him at his side. I couldn't help but get worried. "Now son, your mother and I wanted to talk to you about something…."

Shit! This was either a talk about extreme patriotism, or my freaking gang!

"A question though. Did you happen to take a peek at the vault news last night, at approximately 8:30 p.m.?"

"No." I replied.

"Now don't lie to me young man , this made headlines on last night's news, and the overseer even had to issue a lockdown on the 7th floor!"

How dare he raise his voice at me before even telling me what the issue was! Well…I mean…I knew what he was talking about, but for Christ sakes, tell me what the problem is!

"I couldn't lie to you father, last night I was doing…extracurricular activities with Mrs. Clank."

"Oh really?" he said folding two arms together. "And just what kind of activities?"

I had to come up with something fast, "Errrr…ummm…what was it again…? Oh yeah, it was proper food etiquette." They both looked at each other, "Did you get that Doris, food etiquette." My father said. "I sure did Bob, you see, I told you to give our boy a chance!" She spat back.

"Ah, just because he tells you something, it doesn't mean it's true."

"Oh please, we raised our child right!"

"And what makes you so sure?"

"I've read the perfect parent's catalog in the vault standard. Every week I spend hours studying to be the most fit parent for our son; remember? It focuses on happiness, cleanliness, and American originality, oh, an-"

"That catalog is garbage, and you know it!…..if we really want to help little Cornelius-"

"Stop calling me that!" I cut in. My mother looked horrified, "Let's just…get to the matter at hand. Why should I have watched the news?"

My dad sighed, "There was a riot on the 7th level last night. We wanted to make sure you were okay."

Thank God, "Oh yeah I'm okay."

He started to pace.

"Yeah…no scratches…no bruises…"

"Honey why don't we just-"

My mother was interrupted, "No dear, our son needs to tell the truth."

At that moment, my dads eyes glowed bright red, and my body felt stiff.

"Honey no!" Screamed my mom.

Oh God, he's running a thermal scan!

"Hmmmm, your heart is racing…just as I suspected!"

"Leave me alone!" I spat. But before I knew it, I felt a prick at the tip of my finger, and that prick became a zap at my elbow, and that zap became a current at my spine, then lastly…the current became a painful shock to my cranium.

By instinct, I fell to the floor in fetal position, as my own father sent shockwaves through my entire body. Surprisingly though, I wasn't screaming as much this time; he's done this so much I started to build up an immunity.

"Bob, you'll stop that right now!" my mom screamed trying to yank my father away. But he quickly launched her to the wall with a swift backhand.

"We saw you! You led the riot you little rat! What are the other parents to think of us now huh!? That we raised a hooligan child!? If your identified, you'll be expelled from school, and never take the G.O.A.T.!"

Each sentence led to another agonizing shock, I just wanted it to end already.

"Fuck you!" I yelled with the remaining breath I had. Of course, this didn't make him happy, "Fuck me!? Oh, that's rich. That little stunt you pulled on level 7 probably just fucked your chances to graduate! Your fucking your vault and your overseer!"

After about a minute more of painful shock waves, he abruptly stopped, leaving me curled on the floor with tiny streams of smoke hovering over my quivering body.

As my mother regained consciousness, she wept at the sight of her son, "My baby!" she screamed before my dad took her arm.

Before taking his leave, my dad made a conclusion, "I won't lie to you Corneal, keep this little charade up, you'll get identified. And when that happens…don't expect me to defend you, so don't piss this away!"

He exited and closed the door, my mother still weeping down the hallway.

…

Yup…I led my first riot at age ten. The 7th floor is what we liked to call the "scrap yard", or the robot ghetto. That was were the Good Fighters met, a place where old rusted droids go to when exiled/rusted down. I have a confession to make though; I didn't create the Good Fighters, I was just…a higher ranking officer if you will. But don't get me wrong though, I was up there. Carl and Jeremiah are just my lackeys unfortunately.

What was the riot about you ask?

Lets just say the boss doesn't like it when vault security tries to send search parties for missing kids.

Thank God the security camera didn't get a snap at my face.

…

I blacked out for what I thought was a minute still in fetal position, when I heard my door open up again.

"Ahhhh, there he is!"

"No fucking wonder…"

"Damn, he got a new poster too, uhhh how longs' it been…umm about five weeks since we've been here?"

"Pfft, try seven!"

"Wooow"

At first I thought I was being broken into, but sooner or later I'd realized the voices. I heard the rubber jumpsuit shoes squeak as the to beings squatted over me, "Hey, wake up sleepyhead, you missed school." One of the beings taunted while flicking my head.

I blinked a couple of times until I saw two hazy figures hovered over me like a pair of curious dogs.

"Hrmmm…" I groaned while lifting my head.

"Blake, you had us worried sick, you've been out for seven hours tops!" one voice said.

"You see, that's one thing those tin men will never get, feelings." said the other.

"I dunno man, I heard a robot just bawling like she had them a while ago."

"That's all in the programming my friend, they try to replicate human emotions. I find it both funny and disturbing."

The figures regained shape and a slight smirk grew on my face, "Hey Jeremy, Carl."

They focused full attention on me and gave me a worried look,

"Hey Blake, Boss wants to see you."

**A/N: Well? How did the second chapter for my first story do? Improvements? Comments? Chapter 3 will be on the way.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Okay chapter 3 is here after a long time! I'm sorry if I kept anyone waiting, but school and other stuff was getting in the way of me finishing this.**

**PS: Also, I apologize if this chapter seems too rushed but I am trying to get to some key points in the story so please try to ignore that. Hope you enjoy it!**

Chapter 3: Peace, Freedom, & Bacon and Eggs!

"Did you know that vault…fifty eight…is the only vault that's paper…is made from 50% recycled newspaper? Just another reason why vault fifty eight is the right choice…we are green and efficient. Also…don't forget to tune your radios in tonight, because the big game between the vault Founders…and the vault Patriots is all sold out!"

Synchronize the piano instrumental…

As the high notes of the piano keys bounced off the walls of the metal hallway, I became fully awake…just for a moment…

"Da…da-da-da-DA-da! Do…do-do-do-beep-badoo…dooo, dooo…"

Agh! The mixture of their voices was excruciating.

"Deeee-da-da-da-doo…Ba-ba-ba-ba-baaa…BA-BA!"

"SHUT UP!" I screamed.

Jeremiah and Carl nearly dropped both of my arms at that outburst. "Damn Blake you made me jump!" Jeremiah said.

"Yeah, you shouldn't scare us like that, we could have dropped you!" Carl retorted.

What Carl said just pissed me off even more, "Well stop singing with the piano; its one thing if you sing lyrics to a song, but you both sound like a retarded barber shop quartet!"

They both silenced themselves to my verbal wrath and continued to carry me down the unusual hallway. My bones still felt stiff from my father's thrashing, so they had no choice but to drag my limp body to the scrap yard A.K.A. the robot junkyard.

From what I remember, I was being taken there for questioning or something. I would usually be peeing my pants if the boss requested my audience out of the blue like this, especially after what happened to Carl the other day…The boss had two testosterone-pumped guys beat the shit out of him because he received a haircut from Choppy the barber. Boss doesn't like it when we spend the "Good Funds" on simple stuff, still…nice haircut though.

Things like this scared me. Even though we're being saved the trouble of the constant oppression of the adults, it crosses my mind that we're being just as oppressed working for the Good Fighters. Its no lie that laws are strict in the organization (and I respect them), but doing dirty work is all that it really is. I joined so I can see some progress, but so far, I'm at the point in thinking that we're nothing but a group of snot-nosed little brats that just want some play time.

Down a few more corridors and hallways, we reached the very bright "Luxury Hall". a hall dedicated to shopping and well…luxury. According to my vault research, this little hall is dedicated to those who have to take long walks to get home, so they can relax their feet and make a pit stop. But after that, it's the same dim-lit hallways. I looked at the scene before my eyes, the entire hall had a pre-war beach setting. The walls decorated with men and women sun-tanning and kids in the water throwing a beach ball. On the sides where little knick-knack shops that sold air fresheners and decorative sea-shells. Jeremiah and Carl gently set me aside on a nearby bench.

"One second Blake, we promised boss-man a couple of shiny things for the Mrs." Jeremiah told me. I plopped my head down and shut my eyes which gave them the okay. Very swiftly, the two separated to different stores and rummaged through plastic jewelry and shells.

"Is there something I can help you with young man?" the shopkeeper asked.

"Yeah, just stay out of my way!" Jeremiah yelled, still rummaging.

"Young man, it is almost closing time, may I assist you?"

"No."

"Things would go a lot smoother if…"

"I said no!"

He became a bit more rough and began to toss the cheap objects around and store the valuables in his pockets.

"Agh! Sir, your getting my product everywhere. Are you even willing to pay for that!?" asked the shopkeeper trying to catch the tossed objects. At this point, Jeremiah knocked over whole isles and kicked over display stands, making glass shatter everywhere. The owner dodged debris and his own product behind the front desk.

"Stop that right now!" the owner yelled as he cowered.

"Why? So you can force me into your assembly line and make me into a mindless zombie like the rest?" he said kicking down a vase.

Suddenly, the shopkeepers eyes started to gleam bright red…like my dad's, and rose up from behind the counter.

"How dare you accuse me of human manufacturing, return my product, and leave my store immediately!"

Jeremiah jumped back and dropped a few necklaces.

"Now, I'm a sensible person. But when you waltz into my store and lash out at me, that's when you've crossed the line…my product please."

The owner held out his hand and impatiently as Jeremiah hesitated. He was clearly scared, but still wanted to maintain his toughness. His entire body shook in fear, has he never been stood up to by an adult?

"C'mon I'm waiting child, or should I call a constable assistance?"

"N-No!" Jeremiah pleaded.

"then return my valuables and exit the premises immediately. You should count yourself lucky I'm letting you off the hook!"

I'm surprised Carl wasn't experiencing the same trouble in his store, not a single peep came from it. And I was too weak to help out Jeremiah, all I could do was wait and listen…

Jeremiah eased forward, he slid about two feet towards the owner, "That's right, this way…" he teased. At this point, he regained his stability and ceased shaking, he took full steps until he reached the shopkeeper face-to-face.

"Good boy, now hand it over…" he looked down and thought about it, "Am I going to step to this bastard's level and pussy out…? Hell no!" he thought.

Jeremiah raised his head to the owner with his hand still out, gurgled the back of his throat and spat directly into the shopkeepers eye.

Instead of running, Jeremiahs shaking continued again and his heart raced to a speed where he could almost eel it punching his chest. "Oh shit…" he thought, "What did I just do!?" But the shopkeeper didn't even flinch, he lifted an arm and wiped the saliva off his open eye. "Ahahaha…hahaha! you've got aim boy I'll give you that, but if I'm not mistaken, your one of those Good Fighters are you? Or at least your trying to be.."

"Oh shit Jeremy!" I thought, rolling off of the bench with the remaining strength I had. I hit the floor and began to crawl.

"H…how did you-?"

"Pfft! It's so obvious, I can see it in your face…your hair isn't even cut correctly. And what proper child just walks into a store to terrorize and sack it!? Here's a tip, if you going to be associated a terrorist organization, make it a little less obvious…" replied the owner.

"Move Goddammit!" Jeremiah thought to himself, but he was frozen in fear.

Suddenly, the owner lifted an arm with an open power-saw bat the end of it. Jeremiah's eyes flooded with tears.

"I know it will be awhile till' the vault eradicates you fiends, but I might as well take as many of you out as I can at the moment…who knows, the overseer might commend me…"

When the shopkeeper finished his words, the power-saw revved up at full speed creating a blood-curdling scratching sound. "Please don't!" Jeremiah screamed with the remainder of his breath.

"Ahahahahah!" replied the owner.

As the shopkeeper raised his arm for the first and final blow, I rushed through the store and screamed past the awful pain in my legs. The keeper instantly noticed me when I was about ten feet from him and redirected his blade towards me. When raised in the air, I quickly grabbed the underarm and began to push it towards the shopkeeper.

Still screaming, I used all the force my worn-out muscles could spare and pushed the arm of the owner until it made contact with his face. The metallic grinding made my ears ring but I continued to push until I felt metal crumble in my hands. "GAAAAAGHHAAAA!" screamed the owner before he fell on the floor.

My body was beyond overheated, but I managed to stay standing by holding Jeremiah's shoulders, "you…*cough* you idiot, we need to get out of here before the sentry-bots come!" I yelled, but he was in too much shock to answer.

Carl's footsteps behind me gave me little hope, "what the hells' going on here!?"

I turned my head, still holding Jeremiah's shoulders, "no more pit stops you two, now get us the fuck out of here now!"

Carl nodded and slung an arm over his shoulder, then, smacked Jeremiah back into reality.

…

"Please…pardon the interruption, but the overseer…has ordered an emergency…announcement…your music…should return shortly…"

"Go!Go!Go!" I demanded. Carl obeyed and picked up the pace down the hall. Jeremiah still trying to collect himself with us.

"Citizens of vault fifty eight, a moment of your time please…" began the overseer on the PA system. "I advise you to not panic, and cease your nightly luxuries…"

We made tight turns and cut a few corners as the vault emergency lights spun around and whirled an ear piercing screech.

"Have not made myself clear rabble-rousers? A vault crime is always forgivable, and all you simply must do is confess! This _is _a Christian society after all, and all will _be _forgiven…"

The chrome walls slid down to reveal an arsenal of sentry-bots as we ran.

"Damn, what do we do!?" Carl yelled.

"Just keep running, Go!Go!Go!Go!" we ran at full speed. The sentry-bots followed…

But if you…'Good Fighters' as you call it, plan to continue your acts o anarchy…so be it. Just let me be the first to inform you that punishment will be swift and merciless…And as for the rest of you, I apologized for my anger. Today, at approximately 6:00 pm, the luxury hall was attacked and ransacked by the anarchists I mentioned earlier."

Without looking back, the rampage of bullets and shrapnel hammered the walls. The sound was blood-retching. "How did he know we were here?" Carl asked while sprinting.

"The overseer sees everything." I replied

"Is that a pun?"

"No, I think he's linked to the sub-terminal level somehow!"

"How does that work?"

"I'll explain later!"

"There has been a casualty I'm afraid…and as we speak, authorities are on foot, chasing the culprits. I do advise residents to stay inside until this problem is situated."

After cutting the only corner at the end of the path, an elevator met the end of the next hallway…

All three of us froze at the sight of our only exit…

"Please remain calm and lock your doors, you may return to your lives once the fugitives are apprehended!" wailed the sentry-bots.

"Go!" I screamed, and we bolted for the door. The sentry-bots wheels halted at my voice, I knew they heard me…

As we approached the door, Carl reached past my shoulder and tapped the button repeatedly, "c'mon!" he repeated. My breath quickened, if the elevator isn't called soon, we were all finished. I was getting ready to die…

"Oh fuck hurry!" Carl repeated.

But then, the door flew open and we met with our only means of escape and jumped in. As the door closed, I saw the first sentry-bot of the group cut the corner we made. Carl pressed the nearest button to go down and we made dissention to the scrap yard level…all of us speechless. Carl dropped me on the elevator floor despite my weakness, I understood though. Jeremiah still stood and backed up to the corner of the enclosed room. His eyes shot wide open and gasped for breath as if he had just been underwater.

Carl and I rushed to his attention.

"Whoa whoa, just calm down Jeremy!" he reassured while gripping his shoulders.

"Wha…what's wrong with him?" I asked.

"I think he's just getting out of some sort of shock state. He's breathing too rapid!"

"Make him snap out of it. It's over!"

"I'm trying!" Carl yeled.

Jeremiah slid down to the floor as tears rolled down his face, I've never been this horrified before, I've taken ten psychology classes and even psychological trauma, but I've never actually seen it before.

Carl was known for his medical skills thank God, and it looked like Jeremiah was going to need some help.

"Stay with me Jeremy, stay with me buddy…" Carl said.

"Can you say something, can you say some words?" he only responded with mere gasps and sniffles.

"Will he be alright?" I asked

"Well…" he started getting a good look at his face, "He needs some time with the vault therapist-"

"Which one?"

"The one that doesn't hate us."

"Oh yeah…"

"But with things the way they are, the best we can do right now are some drugs and rest."

"If you think that'll work…"

"It's all we got no-"

Abruptly, the lights cut out and the elevator stopped violently…

All of us stopped what we where doing and froze. Jeremiah even ceased to sniffle.

The PA rang, "Dear anarchists, is vault life not good enough for you? Is there more you want? Is the atmosphere not satisfying enough? We _can_ fix that you know? But if you continue these acts…"

The lights shot back on and we all stared at each other.

"What the hell was that…?" Carl asked, but his question was answered with a heavy tapping at the top of our elevator. We looked up…

More tapping….

Carl held Jeremy's ears and tensed while I let out a sigh and prepared or impact.

The force of the blast was so strong I only felt impact and heard a ringing in my ears. The elevator disconnected and violently shook is around like dice. Surprised that we where still alive, we made our speedy decent to the bottom….


End file.
